Freight handled with care

For managing director Barbara Ford and her team at Air Freight Handling Services, all cargo is precious. 🎁🛩

The business she started 20 years ago handles a large chunk of the freight that travels domestically and internationally through Cairns Airport.
Having built up a career from administrative and sales roles in air freight with Qantas to running their operations in Canberra and Perth, Barbara eventually landed back in the north to start her own business.

Now Qantas is one of her major clients among other big names including Australia Post.

The business expanded with the opening three years ago of the Regional Trade Distribution Centre on Caudron Avenue.
Freight and produce such as avocadoes, mangoes and live lobsters and fish are handled through the export hub and travel in the belly of planes bound for international markets such as Singapore, Fiji, New Zealand, Bali, Japan and New Guinea. 🥑

Showing Advance Cairns CEO Jennifer Spilsbury around the centre, Barbara and operations manager Scott Rhodes explained the steps freight had to travel through at the centre to get to customers. “We are the conduit between airlines and customers,” Barbara said.
Those customers included mums and dads who could walk through the door to do business, freight forwarders and big corporates.

At the centre, the team is responsible for ensuring freight is ready for flight and that includes weighing, documentation, security and even temporary cold storage if needed. ❄️
From pets to post boxes and produce, there’s not much they can’t handle.
Hmmm, maybe some cargo is more precious than others!

Keeping you informed